Pumps



A ril 15, 1969 A. J. Hum-ms 3,438,332

PUMPS Filed May 11, 19s? INVENTOR United States Patent O US. Cl. 103124 7 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This specification discloses a rotary pump characterized by: v

(a) a cylindrical housing;

(b) a stator fixed relative to one end of the housing and having a conical portion axially disposed within the housing, the conical portion having therein a transverse diametral slot and two inlet and two outlet fluid passages extending therethrough;

(c) second and third slots in opposite sides of the housing, aligned with the diametral slot and adapted to sealingly accommodate ends of a paddle;

(d) cover plate members removably secured to the housing and sealingly covering the second and third slots in the housing;

(e) a paddle disposed in the diametral slot with its ends sealingly accommodated within said second and third slots, and pivotable about a point on the axis of said stator with its iends reciprocal along the longitudinal axis of the housing in the second and third slots;

(f) a valve block having two inlet and two outlet check valves associated with the fluid passages of the stator; and

(g) a solid ungulate rotor axially disposed in the housing and arranged so that its truncate surface is in contact with the inner edge of the paddle.

My invention relates to pumps and more particularly to rotary vane-type pumps.

In my co-pending applications, Ser. No. 637,740 and 637,692, filed on even date herewith, there are disclosed vane-type rotary pumps. The main object of the present invention is to provide improvements in this type of pump, particularly as to increased versatility.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a vane-type rotary pump that is simple, compact, versatile and efiicient.

These and other objects are effected by my invention as will be apparent from the following description taken in accordance with the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this application in which:

FIG. 1 is an exploded schematic perspective view of a rotary pump in accordance with the principles of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an elevational view of the assembled pump of FIG. 1, with a portion thereof cut away to more clearly reveal its inner construction;

FIG. 3 is an elevational view of the right hand end, or valve block portion, of the pump as viewed in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a side elevational view of the valve block portion of the pump of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 5 is a view in perspective of a modified form of valve block constructed in accordance with the principles of the invention.

Referring to the drawings, the pump unit of FIG. 1 includes a main housing structure 11, a base structure 13, a stator 15, a rotor 17, a shaft support end plate 19, and a valve block 21.

The main housing structure 11 comprises a hollow ice cylindrical tube which is internally threaded at the left hand end, as viewed in FIGS. 1 and 2.

The stator 15 is disposed and suitably secured within the right hand end, as may be noticed by referring to FIG. 2. The stator 15 comprises a cylindrical body having a conical inner end portion 25.

A transverse diametral slot 27 is provided in the conical portion 25, and is disposed in such a manner that the bottom thereof is parallel to the surface of the conical portion (see FIG. 2). Thus, the apex 28 of the slot is in line with the apex of the conical body portion 25.

The slot 27 is proportioned to freely receive an elongate paddle 29 therein.

There is a ball 31 disposed in one end of an axial passage 33 through the stator 15. The ball 31 is maintained in contact with a matching depression 35 in the paddle 29, by a coil spring 37. The ball 31 thus serves as the point of oscillation of the paddle 29 in the slot 27; and the spring 37 urges the ball and paddle into engagement with the rotor 17. The outer end of the spring is seated in a cup-like depression 38 in the front face of the valve block 21.

The paddle 29 is an elongate member which has arcuate ends that are disposed in slots 39, 41 in the main housing 11. The upper and lower slots 39, 41 are covered and sealed by cover plate members 43, 45 respectively, which may be secured in place by a plurality of screw type fasteners 47, or in any other suitable manner.

There is provided in the conical portion 15, four fluid ports and passages which are disposed on opposite sides of the paddle 29, and adjacent opposite ends of the paddle. It will be noticed by referring to FIG. 1, that two of the ports 49, 51 are adjacent to and on opposite sides of the lower end of the paddle 29; the port 49 being a fluid outlet port and the port 51 being a fluid inlet port. Another corresponding pair of outlet and inlet ports (one of which, designated 53, is shown on dotted lines in FIG. 2) are disposed adjacent the upper end of the paddle 29. The four ports open into fluid passages in the valve block 21.

The valve block 21 is a cylindrical body 57 which has the same diameter as the main housing 11. It is secured to the stator 15 by a plurality of bolts 59. A suitable gasket 63 is conveniently disposed between the valve block and the stator 15 and housing 11 to provide a fluid seal.

In the cylindrical body 57, there are four passages leading to valve chambers wherein there are check valves. In FIG. 4 it will be noticed that the valve block 21 is provided with a vertical inlet manifold fluid passage 65, having threaded ends at 67, 69, which is connected to upper and lower valve chambers 71, 73 respectively. It will be noticed also, from FIG. 3, that the valve block 21 is provided with a horizontal outlet manifold fluid passage 75, having threaded ends 77, 79, which is connected to right and left (as viewed in FIG. 3) valve chambers 81, 83. It should be noticed from FIG. 4 that the respective vertical and horizontal passages 65, 75 do not intersect, which is to say, there is no direct fluid communication between the fluid passages 65 and 75. A conventional type of check valve is suitably secured in the valve chamber 71 in such a manner that fluid may flow only to the left as viewed in FIG. 1. That is to say, the valve 85 is a fluid inlet valve as it is used in the present installation. Another conventional check valve 87 is suitably secured in the associated valve chamber 83, in such a manner, however, that fiuid may flow only to the right as viewed in FIG. 1. Thus, the valve 87 is, for this purpose, a fluid outlet valve. In like manner, similar fluid inlet and outlet valves 89, 91 respectively are suitably secured in the valve chambers 73 and 81 respectively.

The arrangement of passages in the block 21 shown and described is merely for illustration of the versatility of the pump. With the valves arranged as shown, the pump is operable when the rotor is turned in the direction shown by the arrow A in FIG. 1. If it is desired that the rotor turn in the opposite direction, the block 21 may be rotated 90 degrees with respect to the stator and again bolted in place, the respective positions of the inlet and outlet valves then being reversed.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, it will be observed that the rotor 17 comprises a solid cylindrical ungulate body portion 93 and a drive shaft 95 which is fixed thereto. The ungulate body portion 93 has a circumferential groove, and an O-ring 97 is disposed in the groove in the usual manner, for the purpose of forming a seal.

The shaft support end plate 19 is circular and is provided with an axial passage 99 therethrough. The right hand end of the passage, as viewed in FIG. 2, is counterbored to receive a conventional type of ball bearing 101. Between the bearing and the left hand side of the plate 19, there is provided an O-ring 103 which seals the shaft 95.

It is convenient to secure, in any suitable manner, a nut 105 to the support plate 19, as shown in FIG. 1. The shaft 95 projects beyond the nut 105 and in the end portion of the shaft there is a conventional keyway 107. Of course, any suitable device may be mounted on the shaft 95 to rotate the same; one such device being a drive pulley 109. The pulley is fixed on the shaft, in the usual manner, as by means of a key 111.

A spacer and sealing ring 113 is located between the rotor 17 and the end plate 19.

The pump apparatus of FIG. 1 may be readily and easily assembled in the following manner: First, the valve block 21 may be positioned against the stator 15 (this being previously fixed within the housing in any appropriate manner). When the valve block 21 is properly positioned, and when the free end of the spring 37 is positioned in the cup-like depression 38, the bolts 59 may be inserted in the holes 61 and tightened to secure the 'valve block in position. Second, the paddle 29 may be inserted in the slot 27, making sure that the depression 35 matches with the ball 31; the cover plates 43, 45 may then be positioned and secured in place by tightening the screw fasteners 47. Third, the rotor 17 may now be inserted within the open end of the main housing 11, with the planar surface of the ungulate 'body bearing against the paddle 29 and stator 15, as shown in FIG. 2. Fourth, the shaft support plate 19 and the thrust collar 113 may now be positioned on the shaft, as shown in FIG. 2. The support plate 19 may be screwed into the threaded end of the main housing and tightened suitable by use of a wrench on the nut 105. The shaft support and plate 19, will of course, support the shaft 95 on the bearing 101. Fifth, the drive shaft pulley 109 may be installed on the shaft in the usual manner, and, finally, the pump unit assembly may be secured to the base structure in any suitable manner.

To understand the operation of the pump, reference may be made to FIGS. 2, 3 and 4. To begin with, the inlet passage 65 may be connected to a source of fluid to be pumped, by any suitable conduit connected to the threaded ends 67, 69. Likewise, any suitable fluid discharge conduit may be connected to the threaded ends 77, 79. Thereafter, a suitable prime mover may be connected to the pulley 109, and, after starting the prime mover, the rotor 17 is turned in the direction of the arrow A, shown in FIG. 1.

Now, as the rotor 17 turns, the paddle 29 will be maintained in continuous linear contact with the sloping face of the ungulate surface of the rotor by means of the spring 33 and ball 31. And, as the rotor 17 continues to turn, the paddle 29 will oscillate in the plane of the slot 27 about the ball 31.

As in the co-pending applications, Ser. No. 637,740,

and Ser. No. 637,692, filed on even date herewith, the rotor and stator may or may not actually touch at some point, but the paddle is always spring pressed against the truncate surface of the ungulate portion. If some clearance space is left between the rotor and stator, the liquid or gas being pumped may be by-passed to the desired degree, and this clearance space may be adjusted (in the present case by varying the thickness of the ring 113) to control the distance between the stator and rotor.

It should be noted, also, that 'by changing the inclination of the cone, and correspondingly changing the inclination of the truncate surface of the ungulate portion, the volume per stroke of the pump can be changed.

The action of the pump during one complete rotation of the rotary element will now be described: Assuming that it is initially in the position shown in FIG. 2, the thickest portion of the rotor 17 is in between the valves 87 and 89, and the thinnest portion is between the valves and 91. As the ungulate surface of the rotor 17 turns, there will be created within the housing, on the right side of the lower portion of the paddle 29, as viewed in FIG. 2, a cavity which is bounded by the paddle, the sloping ungulate surface, the housing 11, and the conical portion 25. A similar cavity exists on the upper left side of the paddle 29. These cavities are filled with fluid, which enters them via the inlet valves 85 and 89.

Now, then, as the rotor 17 moves the fluid in the upper left-side cavity is expelled therefrom via the outlet valve 87 and the fluid in the lower right side cavity is expelled via the outlet valve 91. It will be clear to those skilled in the art, then, that the pump of the present invention draws fluid within itself and expells the same therefrom, twice during each revolution of the rotary element. That is to say, the pump of the present invention is double acting.

Because the pump is double acting, with two inlet valves and two outlet valves, an additional feature of versatility is provided while still maintaining a single unit. For example, as shown in FIG. 5, by having a block 22 with separate connections 70, 72, 74, 76 to the valve cham bers 71, 73, 81 and 83, instead of the manifold passages 65 and 75 shown in FIGS. 1 to 4 of the drawing, two entirely separate fluids can be pumped. On the other hand, if the the outlet passages are connected, while providing separate connections to the inlet valve chambers 71 and 73, two separate fluids can be supplied to the pump and become mixed therein and discharged together.

The foregoing disclosure and the showings made in the drawings are merely illustrative of the principles of this invention and are not to be interpreted in a limiting sense.

I claim:

1. A rotary pump comprising, in combination:

(a) a cylindrical housing;

(b) a stator fixed relative to one end of said housing and having a conical portion axially disposed within said housing, the conical portion having therein a transverse diametral slot and two inlet and two outlet fluid passages extending therethrough;

(c) second and third slots in opposite sides of the housing, aligned with said diametral slot and adapted to sealingly accommodate ends of a paddle;

(d) cover plate members adapted to be removably secured to said housing so as to sealingly cover said second and third slots;

(e) a paddle disposed in said diametral slot with the ends of said paddle sealingly accommodate within said second and third slots, and pivotable about a point on the axis of said stator with said ends of said paddle reciprocal along the longitudinal axis of said housing within said second and third slots;

(f) a valve block having two inlet and two outlet check valves associated with the fluid passages of said stator; and

(g) a solid ungulate rotor axially disposed in said housing and arranged so that its truncate surface is in contact with the inner edge of said paddle.

2. The combination defined in claim 1 in which the inlet and outlet valves in said valve block are disposed alternately and spaced 90 degrees, whereby, turning the block 90 degrees with respect to the stator enables the pump to operate with the rotor turning in either direction.

3. The combination defined in claim 1 in which an inlet manifold in said valve block is connected to both inlet passages in said stator.

4. The combination defined in claim 1 in which an outlet manifold in said valve block is connected to both outlet passages in said stator.

5. The combination defined in claim 1 in which said valve block has four separate passages extending therethrough, one for each of the valves therein.

6. The combination defined in claim 1 in which a ball is mounted in said stator serving as the point of oscillation of said paddle.

7. The combination defined in claim 1 in which a ball References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 5/1893 Wilson 103--142 XR 10/1897 Artemkin 103-124 5/1917 Cyphers et a1. 103-141 XR 1/1935 Wicha 91-78 XR 10/ 1935 Vincent.

4/1940 Fulton 103124 2/ 1943 Fulton 103-124 9/1959 Case 103-142 5/ 1962 Pelladeau 103-442 XR FOREIGN PATENTS 4/ 1927 Australia. 4/ 1907 France. 6/ 1932 France. 10/ 195 6' Germany.

3/ 1926 Italy. 10/ 1952 Switzerland.

ROBERT M. WALKER, Primary Examiner.

WIL'BUR J. GOODLIN, Assistant Examiner. 

